Turkish court frees British citizen on bail in terrorism trial: media

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - A Turkish court has freed on bail a British citizen facing charges of joining a terrorist organization, Turkey’s Ihlas news agency said on Friday.

Joseph Robinson, a former British soldier, is accused of fighting with the Syrian Kurdish YPG milita. He was arrested in July while on holiday in the southwestern Turkish town of Didim, Ihlas said.

Robinson denies the charge and said during his defense at an initial hearing that he went to Syria to help provide medical assistance to victims of the civil war there, Ihlas said.

Turkey considers the YPG to be an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged a three-decade insurgency in Turkey’s southeast and is designated a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union as well as Turkey.

Robinson faces a jail sentence of up to 10 years if found guilty, local media said.

His Bulgarian fiance, who is accused of terrorist propaganda in the same case, was released before the start of the trial but imposed with a travel ban.